Permutation
by Marauder-chan
Summary: Time travel is a tricky business. So when Nico is sent to the past, to when Percy is only twelve years old, he can't expect everything to turn out perfect. But Hades if he doesn't at least make things better. Canon pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**I really should know better by now than to start another story. However, it is summer vacation, and I'm feeling really optimistic about this one. This story will be strictly canon pairings, so please don't ask me to make it Percico or Pertimis or any other pairings you really love that aren't canon. You can like them all you want, but they won't be happening here. I hope you enjoy anyways! **

**By the way, a line break means a change in point of view. In this chapter it only has Nico's and Percy's, but I may include different one's in later chapters.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson belongs to Rick Riordan. Nothing you recognize belongs to me.**

* * *

Nico was pretty used to strange things happening to him. He was, after all, a demigod.

However, with this, he didn't know what to think.

He blinked once, twice, then just to be sure he was seeing what he was seeing, he blinked a third time. Nope, it was still there.

Extending out in front of him was complete and absolute darkness. Not like the underworld, where there were some seemingly bottomless pits, tortured screams, and a few billion souls milling around in addition to the darkness. Here, it was just... nothing. No sounds, no sights, nothing. Completely black.

Well, not completely, he mused, looking down at his pale hands, which almost seemed to glow against the dark background. He could see himself, at least, so he knew he wasn't blind. A small consolation, considering he was stuck in the middle of nowhere – literally.

A voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts. " Nico di Angelo."

He stiffened, then turned around, only to be faced with one of the oldest looking people he had ever seen. The man had a long, bristly white beard, and his skin was covered with wrinkles. He was wearing a long robe that fell below his feet, making him appear to be floating. Maybe he was, Nico couldn't see the floor anyways, so he wouldn't know. The strangest thing about the man were his eyes: they were a pale cream color that was almost white, and would alternate between seeming like they held all the wisdom in the world, and glazing over and becoming unreadable.

"Who are you?" Nico asked cautiously.

The old man's robes ruffled in the wind as if on cue. "I am Chronos," he said.

Nico tensed, and clenched his fist. "Kronos?"

The old man rolled his eyes, losing his dignified air. " No! I am tired of being mistaken for that old sadist! Do I seem like a titan to you, boy? My name is Chronos, C-H-R-O-N-O-S! Not Kronos, K-R-O-N-O-S."

Nico just stared blankly at him.

Chronos sighed. "You demigods and your dyslexia. It can be so inconvenient at times. I am Chronos, god of time. I have taken you to a pocket dimension where time is frozen, so I can relay my offer to you."

His form flickered, and Nico saw flashes of a small child, a teenage boy, and a middle aged man. "You see, things have been going terribly wrong in the world. You and your demigods are losing the war against Gaea."

Nico's eyes narrowed. "Wha-"

"Do not interrupt, boy, it is terribly rude. As I was saying, your world is going to be destroyed soon. _However_, I am giving you a chance to rectify this." Nico opened his mouth to speak, but Chronos kept talking without giving him room to do so. "How, you ask? Quite simple, really. I will send you back in time to change things."

Nico gaped like a guppy for a few seconds, before regaining his composure. "You can do that?"

Chronos waved his hand in the air. " Ah, I suppose there are a few laws against this, but what the gods don't know won't hurt them. As long as you follow my explicit instructions, they won't notice a thing out of place. Now, for the matter of _when_ I will take you. After careful deliberation, I have decided that you will go straight to the beginning."

Nico's eyes widened slightly in panic, and Chronos, noticing this, quickly revised his statement. "Not the _beginning_ beginning, boy, that would be a disaster! No, I will take you the beginning of a certain hero's story. One you may know: Percy Jackson."

Chronos pulled a folded up piece of parchment out of the folds of his robes and held it out for Nico to take, which he did hesitantly. "When you arrive, you may open this and do what it tells you. Much of it is already set up for you; it shouldn't be a hassle at all. Any questions before I send you?"

"What if I don't want to do this?" Nico asked.

Chronos rolled his eyes. "Then I suppose life as you know it will be destroyed. Any_ good_ questions?"

Nico frowned. He didn't know how to feel about this opportunity. For one, he was getting a chance to turn things around, make everything turn out better, keep the world from being destroyed. That was a plus. However, Nico didn't trust himself to not mess things up, and make everything worse.

"Why me?" he eventually asked.

Chronos smiled. "Because you fascinate me, Nico di Angelo. You know what it is like to have one small factor completely change your life. For you it was the death of your sister. Now, you will find out what it is like to change another's life." Nico noticed everything getting blurry. "Now go, child, and save your world."

Then Nico stopped thinking and everything turned to black.

* * *

Percy Jackson walked to class with a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach.

Of course, this wasn't that unusual of an occurrence. Classes at Yancy Academy usually were pretty dread-worthy. The only exception was Mr. Brunner's Latin class, which was, in Percy's opinion, the only interesting one he'd ever had. All the rest were a bore.

But this feeling wasn't the same as his usual _on-my-way-to-class,-hope-the-teacher-doesn't-kill-me_ feeling. Something was going to happen today, he knew it.

"Percy? You okay?" Asked his best friend, Grover, who was hobbling alongside him with crutches.

"... Yeah," Percy lied. "Yeah, I'm fine." Grover frowned like he didn't believe him, but dropped the subject, thankfully.

They walked into his first class to be met with the usual sight; boys wrestling and spitting at each other, girls giggling and gossiping, and the teacher desperately trying to wrangle the group under his control to no avail. Percy and Grover sat in their usual seats: right in the middle of the class, where they wouldn't be labeled as nerds or slackers.

Of course, it didn't stop them from being picked on by people such as Nancy Bobofit, who was heading over to them right then with a wide smirk on her face. "Hey, losers!" she said, making Percy frown in annoyance and Grover sigh in exasperation.

Luckily, she didn't get much farther than that, because right then the bell rang, signaling the start of homeroom. All the students reluctantly filed into their seats, not bothering to lower their voices enough for the teacher to at least be heard.

"Today-" the teacher called out over the talking, cut off by a flying sandwich he had to duck to avoid. "Today we have a new student!"

The talking slowly diminished, turning into a bunch of hushed whispers. A new student was not as common an occurrence here, since parents usually were reluctant to have their kids go to a school known for juvenile delinquents. When it did happen, it was a noteworthy occasion.

"He should be here in a few minutes," the teacher told them. "I expect you all give him a warm welcome." A few of the kids grinned, as if the teacher just handed them a new toy, or in this case victim, and said, _Have fun! _

Percy saw Grover give a start, his eyes wide. He frowned, then appeared to sniff the air.

Percy nudged him. "Hey, Grover, what's wrong?"

Grover ignored him in favor of muttering to himself. "... Can't be... … didn't notice before... strong scent..."

Before Percy could wonder if his buddy had finally lost it, the teacher spoke up. "Ah, here he is now!"

All eyes turned to the form of a young boy standing in the doorway. He was fairly short, and his scraggly black hair fell into his obsidian eyes. He had dark circles underneath them, revealing either a lack of sleep or an overall stressful life. He wore jeans and a black t-shirt, and an aviator's jacket over it. He was watching them all with a paranoid look in his eyes.

In other words, he fit right in at a school like Yancy.

"So," he drawled. "Am I supposed to introduce myself or something?" He didn't wait for an answer. "Nicholas Morson, Nick for short. 12 years old. Lived in L.A. for a while, before my family got tired of me and shipped me out here. Nice to meet you."

The teacher nodded, as if pleased. "You may sit in the empty seat in the back."

Nick nodded, and weaved through the desks, casually stepping over a foot someone stuck out to try and trip him. As he passed Percy, he could have sworn the new kid paused for a second and glanced at him. Then he passed him as if nothing happened, and sat at his designated seat in the back of the class.

Based on his first impression, Percy Jackson had no clue what to think of Nicholas Morson.

* * *

Class dragged by all too slowly for Nico, who squirmed in his seat practically the whole time. It had been forever since he had been in a school, and he was not accustomed to having to sit down for hours on end. And his ADHD definitely didn't help any. He didn't seem to be the only one distracted, though; every once in a while, a classmate would turn their heads and glance at him, some seeming more curious than anything, while others held a mischievous look in their eyes Nico knew all too well. He resolved to be especially wary of his surroundings for the next week or so.

One boy he recognized as Grover the satyr seemed to stare at him more than any of the others. He'd turn away if he saw Nico had noticed him, the tips of his ears pink, but would just look back at him a few minutes later. Nico guessed he probably _was_ pretty smelly, him being a son of Hades and aware of his status as a demigod, so he wasn't too surprised or unnerved by it. But he still didn't like it very much, so the next time he saw Grover turn to look at him once again, he shot him a well-practiced glare of intimidation. Grover didn't bother him after that.

Another thing that he thought was pretty odd was seeing Percy this young. He was always used to having Percy be a few years older than he was, so it was strange having him be the same age as him, at least physically. Mentally, Nico was actually a year older. However, Chronos had taken a year off his life (as he so happily explained in the letter he gave Nico) in order to keep them in the same grade. Nico was _not_ happy about this at all, but there really wasn't anything he could do about it, so he kept the grumbling in his head to a minimum.

When the bell did ring, Nico followed Percy and Grover out of the classroom. Chronos had given him all the same classes as Percy, and it seemed that Grover coincidentally (or maybe not so coincidentally) had the same ones too, so he figured that he could avoid being lost by following them everywhere. And he also had the chance to listen in on interesting conversations, one of which was happening at the moment. And the topic of said conversation happened to be Nico himself.

"So, why were you staring at the new kid like that?" Percy asked Grover nonchalantly. Grover jumped slightly, caught off guard by the question.

"W-wha? I wasn't-"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Sure you weren't."

Grover glanced back at Nico, who quickly looked out the window, faking distraction. He turned back to Percy and lowered his voice, so Nico had to strain to hear what he was saying. "Listen, Perce, I wasn't- I wasn't trying to be creepy or anything! I was just... just curious, okay? I was curious. I mean, he is kind of weird, and-"

Percy still looked dubious. Grover must have sensed this, because he coughed awkwardly and quickly changed the subject. "I've got to go see Mr. Brunner. There was this... homework assignment. Yeah, a homework assignment I had a question on, and I need to talk to him about it. I'll see you in class, okay?" And with this, he scrambled off, barely remembering to use his crutches.

Nico walked up to where Percy was standing. "Interesting guy," he said casually.

Percy jumped about a foot in the air, and Nico snickered at his reaction. "Wh- wha? Who is?"

"Your friend." Nico cocked an eyebrow at him. "You know, the one who just ran down the corner?"

Percy stared at Nico for a few seconds, before asking, "Are you doing that on purpose?"

"Doing what?"

"The thing with your eyebrow." Percy made an attempt to mimic it, which looked rather comical.

"What thing?" Nico kept his eyebrow up while saying this, hiding his amusement.

"... Never mind," Percy said. "My name's Percy."

Nico was so tempted to say something like, _We know who you are, Perseus Jackson, _but he figured that wouldn't help him make friends with him. It would probably disturb the guy more than anything, especially since he wasn't familiar with monsters and their uncanny knowledge of his full name yet. "I'm Nick," he said instead. "Do you have English next? With Mrs. Bard?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah. Want me to take you there?"

Nico grinned at him. "Yeah, I'd hate to be late on my first day. That can wait until the second day. Any suggestions on how to survive Yancy Academy?"

Percy smiled back as they started to walk. "Okay, if you see a girl with orange hair and a nasty smirk, avoid her at all costs..."

* * *

From then on, Nick became a frequent companion to Percy and Grover. Grover had seemed somewhat uncertain of him at first, but accepted him as a part of their little group fairly quickly. Percy, meanwhile, was liking Nick more and more the more he got to know him. He had a sarcastic personality, and was slightly pessimistic and paranoid, but had a great sense of humor and an air of confidence Percy wished he could mimic. Not to mention he did a good job keeping the bullies away. His glare could be scary when he wanted it to be!

Another interesting thing about him was his relationship with the teachers. Well, two teachers specifically: Mr. Brunner and Mrs. Dodds. Mr. Brunner seemed to view him similarly as he did Percy; someone he expected a lot out of. However, while with Percy it was like a mentor who wanted him to succeed, with Nick, it was less hopeful, and more... 'wary' was the best word Percy could come up with to describe it. He wasn't obvious about it, but it was still slightly noticeable.

On the other hand, Mrs. Dodds was unbelievably obvious about her feelings of him. She completely avoided looking at him, and not in the _I'm pretending you don't exist_ way. It was more like she was scared to look at him. Or talk to him. Or acknowledge his presence in any way, shape or form, other than her palpable fear. On the plus side, Nick appeared to be highly amused by this, if the way he took the time to raise his hand for every question when he never bothered in all the other classes was any indication. Or how he commented on every single sentence she spoke. Or the smirk on his face that never left it while he was in that classroom.

Yup, he was definitely amused.

It didn't stop Mrs. Dodds from picking on Percy, though. She still seemed to hate him as much as before, if not more so. Percy wasn't exactly sure what he did to offend her in a past life, but it can't have been so bad as to deserve twenty pages of notes assigned to him alone. It was especially annoying when at the same time, Nick didn't have to do _anything_. He seemed to enjoy tormenting Percy by watching TV at the same time he was trying to do his homework. Once again, Percy cursed his ADHD and the allure of distractions.

At least he wasn't alone in this factor. As it turned out, Nick was both ADHD and dyslexic also. It was a strange coincidence, but Percy wasn't complaining. It was nice to have someone understand what it was like.

Although that didn't help with the note taking. Honestly, it would be a miracle if he even managed to finish _one_ page of notes.

When it was revealed in May that the sixth-grade class would take a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Percy wasn't sure whether to look forward to it or dread it. Field trips never turned out well for him. It seemed that whenever he went out anywhere, something happened that got him either in detention or expelled. He didn't plan any of it; trouble seemed to make a living of following him around. And museums never really were his thing. He found them terribly boring.

On the plus side, Mr. Brunner would be chaperoning the trip. He always managed to make things interesting, whether it was mock sword fights in class, or, well, field trips to stuffy museums. So, Percy was starting to think that maybe this time, it wouldn't turn out so bad.

He should have learned by now not to get his hopes up.


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm proud of myself; I got this done really quickly. It helped that I had such a great response to it. You all are the best.**

**Thank you to all my reviewers: Slone13, ObsessedwReading, H. N. Dots, Elsa-and-Ana, KitkatMoon, monster of the shadows, floboesequalsflutesandoboes, Melodramatic Rainbows, and funlove109.**

**In response to a reviewer question: Pairings will be eventual Percabeth, possibly eventual Jasper, Frazel, and Caleo, and other pairings that may be mentioned but won't play too big a role, such as Silena/Beckendorf. None of them will be the main focus of the story, though, as it is centered around Nico. Now, on to the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan. I do not own the stuff.**

* * *

Nico was really feeling like he had forgotten something.

All twenty-nine sixth graders were in an old school bus on their way to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nico was in a seat to himself, sitting in front of his friends Percy and Grover. He didn't pay much attention to them, though, as he was too wrapped up in his thoughts.

_Metropolitan Museum of Art... Why does this sound so familiar? I feel like Percy told me something about this sometime, but I can't remember... Hades, this is frustrating._

He was jolted back to attention as the bus rolled to a stop in front of the museum. He climbed out alongside a furious looking Percy, and Grover, who was picking what looked like food out of his hair.

"What happened?" Nico asked.

"Bobofit," Percy growled, glancing towards the grinning girl behind them high-fiving her friends. "Who else?"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Want me to take care of her for you?" he suggested, cracking his knuckles.

Grover interrupted before Percy could respond. "Seriously, guys, it's not that big a deal. It's just peanut butter. Don't get into a fight for my sake."

Percy grumbled undecipherable words under his breath as he walked into the museum. Nico followed after shooting Nancy a quick glare.

The museum trip turned out just how Nico expected it to: boring. Greek and Roman mythology? He'd never seen anything like _that_ before. There was just _so much_ new stuff for him to learn.

Er, not that he was claiming know everything there was to know about it. But he knew far more than any of the other kids, not counting Grover. Percy even called Kronos a _god_, for Zeus's sake!

Lunch eventually came. Percy stayed behind to talk with Mr. Brunner, so Nico and Grover went out by themselves. They sat at a fountain some ways distance from the rest of the class. Nico still had the uncomfortable feeling that he was forgetting something, but he couldn't think of what it was for the life of him. Percy had never liked talking about his old adventures, so whatever it was had probably just been mentioned in a passing comment or something of the sort. Nico decided to try not to think about it too much, or he'd go crazy.

He turned to Grover. "So... How long have you and Percy known each other?" he questioned, feeling slightly awkward.

Grover took a bite of his veggie sandwich. "About half a year," he said through chews.

"Ah." Nico looked off into the distance, not sure what else to say. He noticed the huge, black clouds covering the sky. Zeus must be angry about something, he reasoned. He felt uneasy, as if what he was forgetting was just on the tip of his tongue, just barely beyond his reach.

He was interrupted from his thoughts as Grover began to speak again. "Percy... He's a good guy. Too good, I think sometimes. He's completely loyal to the people he likes, and tries his best with everything. I mean, you can't tell by looking at his grades, but he really does. And it bugs him when he can't live up to people's expectations. He feels angry and disappointed. But it doesn't make him any less loyal to them. That's why I need to protect him. Both of you." Grover seemed to be lost in his words, and didn't appear to know what he was saying to Nico.

Nico wasn't really sure what to say to that. So, like an idiot, he blurted the first thing that came to his mind. "I don't need protecting."

Grover's ears turned pink as he realized what he just revealed. "Ack! I mean, forget it Forget I said anything."

Just then, Percy came up to them. "How'd it go?" Grover asked, eager for the change in subject. "Did you get detention?"

Percy sighed and sat next to them on the fountain. "Nah. Not with Mr. Brunner. I wish he wouldn't push me so hard. I mean, I'm not a genius."

Nico snorted. "Tell us something we don't know."

"Can I have your apple?" Grover asked.

Percy gave it to him, his expression slightly dejected. Nico realized a little late that they might not have acted like the most compassionate friends just then. He didn't really know what to say to make him feel better, though. Nico di Angelo didn't _do_ compassionate. So he just sat there, letting the heavy awkwardness in the air settle on his shoulders.

Until Nancy Bobofit came by and dumped her sandwich on Grover's lap, her freckled cheeks stretched out in a wide grin. "Oops," she drawled.

Nico scowled, and was about to tell her just where she could shove her lunch, when the unexpected happened. All in the matter of a few seconds, the water from the fountain appeared to reach out and grab her, pulling her straight into the fountain with a large splash.

Nico gaped, then swiveled his head towards Percy, whose furious expression was quickly replaced by a bewildered one. Nancy started to scream, "It was Percy! He pushed me!" and all the other kids stared at them, murmuring things to their friends.

Mrs. Dodds appeared there in a flash. She pulled Nancy out of the water, then turned to Percy with a smug look on her face. "Come with me, honey," she ordered.

"Wait!" Grover exclaimed desperately. "I was the one who pushed her! Percy didn't do anything!"

"This is completely unfair," Nico said crossly. "There are a bunch of witnesses here who can confirm that all Percy did was just sit there."

Mrs. Dodds ignored him. Again. Although he wasn't quite sure it was because he was a son of Hades this time. "_Only_ Jackson will come."

Percy looked at them. "It's alright," he said. "Thanks for trying."

And he left with the fury-in-disguise, the uneasy feeling in Nico's gut growing ever more prominent. "I'm going to follow them," he decided.

Grover yelped. "Wh- Why? Wouldn't it be better to get a teacher? It might be safer that way." He looked despondently at Mr. Brunner, who was engrossed with his novel.

Nico raised an eyebrow. "Why? You think it'll be dangerous or something?" When Grover didn't answer, he continued. "No one's going to hurt us. Besides, I don't want to leave Percy alone with that old hag any longer than I have to. You coming?"

Grover gave one last helpless glance towards their Latin teacher, before nodding reluctantly. "Yeah, I guess."

"Great!" Nico dragged him into the museum. "Where do you think they are?"

Grover sniffed the air slightly, before pointing in what seemed like to Nico a random direction. "This way." Nico didn't question the satyr, and followed him through the halls.

They soon arrived at the Greek and Roman exhibit, which was completely empty except for Percy and Mrs. Dodds. Or, what used to be Mrs. Dodds. In her place was a strange creature with large, black bat wings, long talons and sharp, yellow fangs. It appeared Alecto had revealed herself.

Nico swore under his breath, and Grover stared up at the scene in horror. "Kindly One," he whimpered.

As Alecto prepared to attack Percy, Nico unthinkingly ran towards them. "Get away from him!" he shouted, attracting all attention to himself. Grover cursed in Ancient Greek.

The monster narrowed her red eyes at Nico. "You shouldn't be here," she hissed.

Nico straightened, giving her his fiercest glare. "I'll decide for myself where I should and shouldn't be," he retorted. "Now _leave_!"

Alecto gave him one last scornful look before turning back to Percy. "It is only a matter of time before you are destroyed, Perseus Jackson. We will find you again" And at that, she spread out her wings and flew through a window on the wall, shattering the glass into tiny pieces.

* * *

As all the adrenaline left him, Percy's legs started to quiver. He noticed that his friends didn't look much better than him; Nick's face was paler than usual and Grover looked like he'd like to collapse. "What- what was that?" Percy croaks.

"What was what?"

Percy turns to see Mr. Brunner in the doorway of the exhibit, watching the three of them with concern. "I was wondering where you disappeared to. What are you doing back here?"

Percy began telling him what happened in a shaky voice. "W-well, Mrs. Dodds, she told me to follow her, so I did, then she kept telling me to confess, I don't know what for, then she turned to this w-weird bat-human hybrid, then-"

Mr. Brunner frowned. "Percy, did you hit your head?" he said in a slow voice. "You may be delusional."

Percy shook his head insistently. "No, it really happened! Mrs. Dodds flew out that window right there-" He looked back at it, only to freeze in shock.

It was all in one piece. No cracks, no fragments, nothing. It was as if he'd imagined the whole thing.

Nick frowned at it. "That's pretty freaky," he muttered under his breath. "It's like nothing happened."

Mr. Brunner gave them a pitying look. "Why don't you all come with back with me. We'll be starting the tour again soon. Mrs. Kerr is gathering up the other students, and-"

Percy blinked. "Who?"

Mr. Brunner gave him a slightly worried look. "Mrs. Kerr, your pre-algebra teacher."

Now Percy was completely baffled. "But that doesn't make sense! What about Mrs. Dodds?"

"You keep mentioning this Mrs. Dodds character," Mr. Brunner said. "Who is she?"

"Our pre-algebra teacher. She came on this trip as a chaperone. Don't you remember?"

Mr. Brunner shook his head. "Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. I don't think there ever has been. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Percy stared. "What are you talking about? She's been here since January." He turned to his best friend. "Right, Grover?"

Grover averted his eyes, and a guilty expression crossed his face. "N-no, I don't. Sorry, Percy."

Percy frowned at him, thinking that maybe he and Mr. Brunner had collaborated together to play some big joke on him. If so, this was the least funny joke in the history of jokes. He hoped Nick wasn't in on it too. But he didn't think he was, judging by the boy's expression. He was watching the whole exchange with an annoyed and slightly contemplative look on his face, looking just as amused by this whole thing as Percy was; in other words, not at all.

"This isn't funny. I'm serious," Percy said.

Grover shook his head. "Sorry, I- I really don't know what you're talking about. We'd better hurry up, or everyone will leave without us." And he and Mr. Brunner left, leaving Percy and Nick behind in the otherwise empty room.

Nick must have sensed Percy's mood, because he sent a concerned glance his way. "You okay?" he asked."

Percy shook his head. "I don't know. I mean, I couldn't have imagined all that, right?" He began to pace back and forth. "I don't have a good enough imagination to do that, so it had to have been real. Right? You saw that too, right?" Percy was aware that the look he was sending Nick right then was desperate, but he couldn't help it. He had to be sure he wasn't crazy, or that his lunch hadn't been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.

Nick nodded, a grimace on his face. "Yeah, I saw it. Kinda hard to miss something like that."

Percy then remembered how Nick had chased away the... the weird, math teaching, Nancy Bobofit loving monster. "You just told her to go away, and she did. How'd you do that?"

Nick shifted uncomfortably. "I just did. You didn't try it, did you? Maybe it would have worked for you, too."

"Maybe," Percy agreed begrudgingly, although he wasn't too sure. "She did seem scared of you all year, though. Remember? It was like you had the plague or something."

Nick glowered. "Look, can we just drop it? I told her to go away, and it worked. Nothing else to it. Now, are we going to go, or are we just standing here all day?" And with that, he stormed out of the room.

Percy followed him, thinking to himself the whole time. They may not have been friends for long, but one thing he knew was that Nick only got defensive when he had something to hide. Add that on to the Mrs. Dodds incident, and Grover trying to pretend nothing had happened, and he felt he was getting into something way over his head.


	3. Chapter 3

**I am terrible, guys. I'm so sorry about the long wait. I really do plan on continuing this. If I had a fatal flaw, however, it would be a tendency to have trouble finishing things. And it's the reason why I really should stick with one shots. But I like this story, and I do have plans, so I'll try my hardest to keep at it.**

**On another note, I have read Blood of Olympus. And because I know I'm going to get at least one question about this: I don't know if I'm going to include Solangelo. If I do, it won't be for a long time. If I go by the assumption that Will is the same age as Nico in canon, then he would be about 8 years old at this point of the story. I am not doing any pairings with an 8 year old. Add on to that the fact that this story is not centered around romance at all, and even Percabeth will probably just be all subtext, and you'd probably be disappointed by the significant lack of it even if I did include it. This may be disappointing or pleasing news, depending on who you are. But that's how it is.**

**Thank you to all my reviewers: H. M. Dots, duhorcommonsense, itreallyshouldberaventalon, monster of the shadows, funlove109, ObsessedwReading, Guest, Melodramatic Rainbows, Huntress9894, Guest, DarkSolaris57, and AncientTide. You all rock!**

**Now, here's the promised chapter. Enjoy! **

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Rick Riordan. **

* * *

A month had passed since Alecto had shown up, and Nico was becoming overly paranoid.

He had been thrown into the demigod world at a very eventful time, and it hardly let up from there, so he was used to action, danger, and unexpected monster attacks. He was not used to going to class with one of the most powerful demigods of his generation, and ending the day with not one incident. For a month in a row, too. A monster attack would have been a relief by then; heck, he would have welcomed one.

Well, maybe not _welcomed_. As much as he hated monotony, monsters were still a pain in the posterior.

He was sure his classmates thought he was insane by now, though. He jerked at the slightest noise, and had to fight to stay in his seat whenever a bird flew past the window. One time Nancy Bobofit appeared out of nowhere, reaching out to grab Percy's shoulder, and Nico snapped. He slammed her against a nearby locker, expecting her to transform into a monster, so he'd have an excuse to stick the celestial bronze knife held been keeping in his shoe into her gut. But then five seconds passed, and he was still staring into the terrified face of a twelve year old girl.

He let her go. She left the trio alone for about a week after that.

It wasn't much consolation, but at least Nico didn't seem to be the only one who was going crazy. Percy was faring even worse than him. As a person completely unfamiliar with the mythological world, the Mrs. Dodds incident did more than merely throw him for a loop – he had absolutely _no idea_ what was going on. It didn't help that every single person at that school other than him and Nico were convinced there was no such thing as Mrs. Dodds.

He appeared to be trying – and failing – to convince himself that it was all just a big trick being played on him by the whole school. Every once in a while he'd mention Mrs. Dodds, watching the people around him as if to gauge their reactions. Whatever he was looking for, he didn't get – everyone just stared at him like they were mentally calculating the distance to the nearest mental hospital.

When Percy confided this to Nico, he responded with, "How is that strange? I think that all the time when I look at you."

Percy didn't appreciate that.

The most agonizing part of the next month was that Nico had no clue when to expect something else to happen. Not for the first – or last – time, he felt a surge of annoyance towards Chronos. The god could have told him _something_ about Percy's adventures. The only thing he knew was that they were going to happen soon. Not much to go on there.

Alright, maybe he couldn't place all the blame on the time god. He could have paid better attention when it was talked about in his time. He was sure people had at least _mentioned_ it. But he couldn't be expected to listen to every little thing his peers vocalized so that he'd be prepared when he went and time traveled. Especially not with his pitiful attention span.

He decided to mentally go over the facts in his head. His dad was involved; the appearance of Alecto confirmed that. He knew that Percy went on his first quest at around this age, so something must have happened to act as a catalyst to send him to camp, and whatever it was, it was going to happen very, very soon. Or maybe it already happened; maybe it was Alecto's attack that alerted them that he was in danger, but "Mr. Brunner" didn't want him to miss finals, so he decided to wait to send him to camp.

No, wait, that would have been stupid. And as stupidly optimistic Chiron could be sometimes, he was intelligent enough not to put something like that off. So they probably thought he wasn't in enough danger yet for them to go against his mom's wishes and force him to camp. And if an attack from one of Hades' personal servants didn't qualify as dangerous enough to them, whatever was coming up that finally spurred them into action was going to be quite possibly big, and most definitely life threatening.

And in a sudden realization, Nico recalled the horrible weather that had been plaguing New York for the past month. Zeus and Poseidon were both furious about something, if that was any indication. And Percy was involved. The most logical assumption would be that Zeus had discovered Poseidon had broken the oath, and was trying to kill Percy. But he knew it wasn't close to being as simple as that. He strongly doubted Chiron would send Percy on a quest if that was the only reason his life was in danger. It would have been an unthinking and purely idiotic move. So there must be another factor, he concluded.

All he could do now was wait, and hope that some new information would be revealed to him before everything hit the fan.

* * *

Percy needed to talk to Nick.

Hearing the conversation between Grover and Mr. Brunner didn't clear anything up for him. If anything, it only cemented his belief that all that with Mrs. Dodds had actually happened, creating more questions for him that weren't being answered. And as Nick was the only other person who knew what Percy was talking about whenever he mentioned the former math teacher (barring Grover, who was insistent upon lying about his lack of memory), he figured he could confide in him. He had suspicions that his friend knew more than what he was letting on, so he thought that he would maybe be able to make heads or tails of everything.

He confronted him the morning before finals. "I need to tell you something," he said to him.

Nick looked dubious. "If this is still about the 'Nobody remembers Mrs. Dodds' thing, I think you've told me enough about it. Me, and everyone else in the school."

"It's not that," Percy protested, then paused. "Well, I guess it's a little but about that, but not enough to be really considered _about it_. It's actually more about Grover and Mr. Brunner, and secret conversations in his classroom in the middle of the night."

Nick eyed him, and Percy knew his attention was piqued. "Tell me."

He did. He explained how Grover was worried about him leaving for the summer, and seemed to think that he was in some sort of danger. He also mentioned their use of the term 'Kindly One', and how they mentioned something about a summer solstice deadline-

Nick jumped slightly. "What did you say?" he demanded.

Percy blinked. "'Kindly One'. Yeah, I know. It's weird, and to make things worse, apparently they're at the school. Although if they're kindly, I don't see anything to worry about. They'll probably just give away free cookies or something. Speaking of cookies-"

"Percy." Nick rolled his eyes, exasperated. "I meant about the summer solstice. Something about a deadline?"

"Oh." He didn't see how that was more interesting than a mysterious person who gives away cookies, but decided to humor him anyways. "Yeah, Mr. Brunner said something about not wanting to rush me, then Grover said something about the deadline, then Mr. Brunner said they'd have to fix it without me." And then, because Percy was really starting to get hungry: "You know, my mom makes these really good chocolate chip cookies."

Nick said, "Oh, really," but Percy could tell he wasn't really listening to him anymore. His eyes were glued to a spot over his shoulder, and he had to turn around a few times to make sure no one was standing directly behind him.

"What are you looking at?" he eventually asked, because he couldn't for the life of him see what was so fascinating about that wall.

Nick blinked. "Nothing," he muttered.

Percy didn't believe him. But he let it go, because there was one more thing he needed to tell him. "They mentioned you, too, you know."

"What did they say?" He didn't look too surprised, but interested enough that Percy knew he had his attention again.

"_And what about Nick?" Grover asked._

_There was a slight pause before Mr. Brunner's voice came again, sounding more uncertain than before. "I must admit, I did not expect another one here. If he is powerful, then both he and Percy may be in more danger than I originally predicted. We may not be able to afford to wait any longer."_

"_What do we do, then?" Percy could hear the palpable nervousness in Grover's voice. "I – I can't fail my duties again, sir. You know what would happen."_

"_For now, we should just concentrate on keeping the two of them alive until fall-"_

"And that was when I dropped my textbook, and had to hide so they wouldn't know I was there," Percy finished.

Nick's shoulders lost some of their tension, and he groaned. "Great timing there, Perce. Really." He rubbed his temples. "I need to think about this."

"What do you think it means?" Percy asked, because he really was at a complete loss.

Nick looked up at him solemnly. "I think we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

The last day of school couldn't have come sooner for Nico. It was both worrisome and a relief, because he knew it might be the last day of normalcy he would have for a long time. Scratch that – it_ would _be the last day of normalcy. And he didn't know how he felt about that.

He, Percy and Grover were all riding the same bus back to Manhattan. Nico told them he had some distant relatives that lived there he could stay with, which was only a half lie, as the gods technically did live in the Manhattan area, although he wasn't staying with them. No way in Hades would he ever do that. Not even if the underworld froze over.

The truth was, he was counting on some dangerous thing happening before that so he could just be whisked off to camp with no hassle. If nothing did happen, well, he could always just occupy himself on the streets of NY for a little while.

Grover was his usual twitchy self throughout the bus ride, and although it wasn't anything odd, Percy seemed more bothered by it than usual, as if he knew the difference between "normal" Grover, and "slightly more nervous than normal" Grover. Nico knew he himself couldn't; heck, if he hadn't already known that that Grover knew there was a high possibility of them being attacked, he wouldn't have noticed anything out of the ordinary.

Then Percy opened his mouth, and Nico knew he was going to say something stupid.

"Percy, don't-" he began.

"Looking for Kindly Ones?" Percy said.

Grover jumped about five feet into the air, and Nico groaned, mentally face-palming. _I can't believe how much of an _idiot_ he can be sometimes._

Percy then went on to explain how he had heard Grover and Mr. Brunner's conversation that one night. "I honestly didn't hear much," he said. " . . . What's the summer solstice deadline?"

Grover opened his mouth, but Nico interrupted him. "And don't even try to lie out of it this time. You're a terrible liar."

"It's true," Percy agreed. "You're a really bad liar."

Grover turned red in embarrassment. "I – I wasn't going to-" He seemed to notice their unamused faces, because he stopped, his eyes flitting around the bus. "Listen, not here, okay?" He handed them each a card. "If you have any questions, I'll be here. You can come find me."

Nico didn't even bother reading the card. It hurt his eyes to just look at it. _Whoever invented cursive, may they burn in the Fields of Punishment until their skin peels off and their eyes turn black and melt like marshmallows being held over a roaring fire and their scream echoes around the underworld for millions of years and_-

Percy was squinting at the card, his head cocked like a puppy's. "What's Half-"

"Don't say it!" Grover squeaked in a moment of panic. "It's my, uh, summer address."

Nico stared at him. "Dude, you have a summer home? Screw my relatives; I'm coming with you." He glanced at Percy, who had a slightly downcast expression on his face – from what, Nico didn't know. "Are you coming with?"

He shook his head. "Nah. My mom's waiting for me." He turned back to Grover. "So, I can just come visit your mansion anytime I feel like it?"

"Yeah. Or... if you need me."

Percy blinked. "Why would I need you?"

Sometimes, Nico was surprised at how insensitive Percy could be at times. He supposed it came with the territory, as probably the only demigods who really watched what they said were children of Athena. And Athena kid, Percy ain't. But it seemed that he had developed some small level of control as he got older, control he obviously didn't have now.

Grover didn't answer Percy. He just turned a red shade and stared down at his lap.

"Grover," Percy said, "What is going on here?"

He never got an answer. Black dust came from the dashboard and a rancid smell filled the bus. Nico tensed, his hand reaching toward his shoe in case a monster jumped them in the confusion. Grover was probably equally wary, although you couldn't tell past his constant coughing.

Anticlimactically, nothing happened. As they all got off the bus and had to wait while the bus driver fixed the bus, Nico kept a careful watch of his surroundings, ready for one of the passengers to transform into a three headed beast. The only thing he saw out of the ordinary was a small fruit stand with a few old ladies across the street, knitting ginormous socks that would probably fit a titan-

-And all staring right at him.

Nico couldn't believe his rotten luck. Out of all the things he could have run into, it had to be the Fates. He should have known he'd attract their attention, what with him not even supposed to be there. He'd just have to keep Grover from seeing them-

Too late. Grover was as white as a sheet, his eyes switching back and forth between Nico and the Fates. "They're looking at you," he said hoarsely. "Please tell me they're not looking at you."

Percy cocked an amused eyebrow at Nico. "I think they are, Nick. Weird, huh? Think I could fit into those socks?"

"Your feet or your body?" he answered absentmindedly, his mind a mile away. Upon closer inspection, it seemed the old ladies weren't knitting the socks at all – it was more as if they were _unraveling_ them.

Then they opened their mouths and spoke, in a cacophony of scratchy voices Nico could somehow hear with perfect clarity, even though they were whispering from fifty feet away.

"_The clock has turned backwards before the end._

_The king of ghosts is to change what's written._

_All that was predetermined is now unsure,_

_And only one holds the keys to the future."_

When last word escaped their mouth, they were only holding a bundle of yarn no longer recognizable as a sock. Nico realized he had been holding his breath the whole time, and let it out shakily.

Percy blinked. "Did you guys hear that, or was it just me?" he asked slowly, uncertainly.

Grover's eyes were wide, and he was quivering like he was going to collapse. "Change of plan, guys," he said faintly. "Neither of you are going home. You're both coming straight to camp with me."


End file.
